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Ohio Valley Football Clinic Continues to Grow

WEIRTON — The fourth annual Ohio Valley Coaching Clinic has played out with escalating success.

The free football seminar was staged March 15 at Weir High School, attracting prep head coaches ranging geographically from Paden City to Conotton Valley.

A coaching crowd in excess of 50 attended the 3.5-hour event, gaining insight from five presenters. The clinic is organized and directed by Emporia State University defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo, an Ohio Valley native.

“I thought overall it went really well. I loved the fact that the numbers seem to keep getting bigger. I thought all the guest coaches did a great job presenting and I loved the number of schools that made the trip to attend,” Nardo said. “It was nice seeing new schools reaching out and wanting to come take part in this. To me it shows that the clinic is starting to gain some positive word of mouth around the valley and attracting new people. Conotton Valley and Paden City making the trip speaks to that, because they obviously thought it would be worth their time to travel in for it.

“I think it’s great seeing young head coaches who wanted to give up their Friday night to come get better and even bring their staffs with them like what I saw from Union Local, Edison and Paden City. Mid-March is a great time to host it, especially for me because I know I will always have the time off with spring break to travel home,” added the former St. John Central three-sport standout.

“Coach (Tony) Filberto and Coach (Troy) Fetty are incredible hosts, and I cannot thank them enough for all the help they give to make this event what it is. The space we have at Weir High is perfect for what we need and gives us plenty of space to keep growing – not to mention the connection with Undo’s in Weirton, which was kind enough to donate everything for our social afterwards.”

The clinic featured five speakers. In addition to Nardo, who spoke on linebacker play; Trevor Ging presented a strength & conditioning program; West Liberty defensive coordinator Jeff Monteroso spoke on pursuit; Cal (Pa.) offensive line coach David Durish presented line play film and Weir and WVU running back great Quincy Wilson, now running backs coach at West Virginia State, spoke on building program culture.

Head coaches of two of the premier grid programs in the OVAC — Mark Spigarelli of Bellaire and Andrew Connor of Indian Creek — both were in attendance, along with their respective staffs.

“I think the clinic overall was outstanding. It was great to see coaches such as Trevor Ging, Coach Monteroso, Coach Wilson and Coach Nardo give up their time to put on a free coaching clinic,” Spigarelli said. “These are fabulous people who are getting ready to start spring football and it was special that they gave up their valuable time to help us out.”

Connor, who guided Indian Creek to the OVAC 5A championship this fall, echoes Spigarelli’s sentiments.

“I thought it was very informative and the presenters did an excellent job,” he said. “I was impressed with the quality of the clinic and I am very grateful for Coach Nardo’s efforts to give back to the Ohio Valley.”

Nardo has already committed for a fifth annual clinic.

“Any tweaks that I would make are based on the response I get from the coaches back home. If I feel like it’s going to keep getting bigger, there’s always the possibility of doing it on a Saturday and going for longer with more speakers,” Nardo said. “I have already had a few of my friends that are in college coaching reach out to me about helping next year, so the number of speakers can be as high as we truly need it to be if the numbers keep growing.”

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